HOURS IN OTHER GARDENS 



for jasmine sprays; a strange holly with horned leaves 

 bears its red berries riotously, and the Christmas rose 

 both white and pink turns its loveliness shyly away 

 from our too eager glances. A wonderful develop- 

 ment of our common mustard is the Brassica insularia 

 with its tufts of big white flowers. Overlooking the 

 sea a whole hillside of yellow genista glows under strag- 

 gly pines. Sixty varieties of acacia, or mimosa as it is 

 called here, are successfully cultivated and are over- 

 poweringly beautiful, hanging in feathery yellow tas- 

 sels over rocky walls or massed in small plantations be- 

 neath lofty terraces. Special attention has been paid 

 to succulent plants; there are sixty different kinds of 

 agaves and about forty kinds of aloes cultivated here 

 with opuntias and fourcroyas and yuccas and euphor- 

 bias in endless variety. The huge sheaths of the cen- 

 tury plants about to flower have been likened to gigan- 

 tic asparagus, and indeed the simile is a good one. 



Just below the platform that supports the house a 

 stately avenue of cypresses leads to the agrumi planta- 

 tion consisting of orange and lemon, grapefruit and 

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